Just to Stay Alive
by GirlInThePaintedMask
Summary: This story follows young Harley, a girl who spent most of her life in foster care after a horrible car crash took her parents and memory. She is accustomed to a harder life and doesn't find she can connect with people. Now that she is being moved out to a foster home in Santa Carla, will she meet someone who is willing to spent the time to crack her open? M for language& future
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone! I don't know why but I thought this story up and decided to start writing it. I have no Idea where it's going but hopefully it'll be good.**

Chapter 1

For most of my life I had been an outcast. I had never connected with people. I mean after all how was I supposed to?

I was a foster child, a bastard. I couldn't remember my parents, only saw glimpses of what I can only imagine are their faces. In those flashes they were happy, smiling at me with enough love to make my heart burst.

I had been fairly young when they had died, only eight. I can't remember my life before that. The doctor said it was amnesia and that it would wear off after awhile. Since that day it had been nearly ten years of being stuck in fucked up foster homes, eating shit food, and getting beat when I didn't do what I was told.

I didn't mind much anymore. I had become numb to everything. Slaps and punches went unnoticed by my body and I never got attached to anyone. I hardly ever went to school anymore, which got my foster parents in trouble, but what did I care? I would be eight teen soon, and when I was, I was going to leave this shit hole.

Currently I was in the back seat of a red mini cooper, on my way to my temporary home in Santa Carla, California. Lilly, the woman driving, was blabbing on about how this was the one and how I would finally be able to turn my life around. She was one of those optimistic people who refused to see the bad in people. She had been my "agent", as she liked to call it, for about a year now. She liked to pretend we were sisters but I was indifferent to the idea.

I gazed out the window to my right and watched the trees wiz by. California was pretty, I had to admit. It was different than the morbid cloudiness of Seattle, where my last few homes had been, but I suppose it didn't matter what it looked like. Everywhere had a little piece of hell inside.

As we passed a sign welcoming us to Santa Carla I looked back to see that on the back in gruesome looking letters, someone had written "The murder capital of the world," in red spray paint. I chuckled softly to myself. There was that little piece of hell I was looking for.

As we drove further into town we passed by a large boardwalk. It was covered in tourists and strangely dressed people. There were food stands every few feet selling everything from corndogs to funnel cakes and they each had outrageous lines of people waiting to buy food.

Every light pole was adorned with hundreds of missing posters. The faces had nothing in common. Men, women, and children of every race appeared on brightly colored paper and were mixed into the colorful pole.

Lilly snickered as she saw them, but kept on driving.

We drove for fifteen minutes or so before we came to a reasonable looking neighborhood. All the houses where shades of white with fences to match. They all had well-kept that were most likely paid to keep by someone else. These people obviously had cash in their pockets and didn't mind spending it.

Lilly smiled as we pulled up to a three-story eggshell house with too few windows and a large yard filled with various colorful flowers. Lilly parked the car and turned to me. "Aren't you excited?" she asked in her peppy voice. "Yeah," I replied a bit sarcastic. Lilly smiled, obviously not noticing and got out of the car.

As she walked up to the door I got my things out of the car. As I lugged my heavy suitcase along I noticed Lilly was getting anxious. She looked at her watch and tapped her foot, knocking on the door again. After a few more seconds she tried looking through the window.

"Well I guess no one's home," she said placing her hands on her hips. "We are a little early. Maybe they had something to take care of before they met you," she said.

We decided it would be okay to just sit in the car for a bit. As the sun started going down Lilly sighed. "Well I guess they must have forgotten." she started the car when suddenly a man was outside her window.

He wore large bottle cap glasses, a semi-formal white suit, and had short brown hair. He smiled warmly and motioned for Lilly to roll down the window. She did and he stuck his hand in.

"You must be Ms. Armstrong. I'm Max." he said, shaking her hand. "I'm afraid you had the wrong address. You see my house is the one next door."

"Oh dear it must have been a misprint. I was wondering why you weren't home for our appointment." Lilly said smiling widely.

"You must have thought me quite rude. Never the less, if you would be willing to move your car into my car port we can get young Harley settled in."

I couldn't tell what, but I knew deep down there was something off about this guy.

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**Thanks for reading! please review and let me know what you thing. Good or bad doesn't matter. I love constructive criticism. **


	2. Chapter 2

Hey guys, so I wasn't too impressed with chapter 1's turn out, but it wasn't very exciting so hopefully now that we get to know our main character a bit better perhaps You can give me more feedback. Enjoy!

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After Lilly parked her car we followed Max inside. As soon as we got through the gate a dog pounced on me. It growled and snarled with evil intent. It was a fluffy white dog that was likely part wolf considering it's viciousness.

Before Max could do anything I pushed the dog off and got into a crouch. I stared the dog in the eyes, baring my teeth as an animal would. After a few moments the dog tucked its tail and ears, looking away from my eyes.

I stood, my face emotionless. Lilly and Max stood awestricken at what had just occurred. "I'm sorry. Thorn usually isn't territorial when I lead people in. Are you hurt?" he asked, being careful not to touch me.

"I'm fine," I replied dusting off my pants. I picked up my bag and continued without another word.

Lilly sat Max down to fill out paperwork as I took my thing to my new room.

As I opened the door I observed the room. It wasn't as open as the other parts of the house. It had purple walls and a canopy bed with dark blue drapes and bedding. I had never had such a nice room and I immediately dropped all my bags and fell on to the soft mattress.

After awhile I heard footsteps coming towards the door. "It's so quiet. She must be asleep. She had a long day of travel. Maybe I should just go. Will you just tell her I'll be back to see her in a few weeks?"

"Of course. Feel free to visit any time." Max's voice replied. At that the footsteps retreated. I sighed and got up to unpack my things.

I didn't really have much, a few t-shirts, some jeans, socks and undies. I never kept things my temporary families bought me, which wasn't much anyway. As I placed the last of my clothing in the rich, chocolate colored dresser the door opened.

Max stood in the doorway smiling. "So you are awake. Pity your lovely friend had to leave without saying goodbye." he said in a soft voice.

"It's better that way. I wouldn't be able to make her believe I was sorry she was leaving. Besides, she's not my friend." I replied slamming the drawer a little too hard.

"Ah I see. You're a tough one. Too many years in the system." His smile softened. "I used to be an orphan too you know. I know how it feels when you can't trust anyone. I hope we can change that for you." He started to turn but stopped. " I have some sons that may be joining us for dinner. I think you'll like them. They'll certainly like you." he said, finally turning to go.

It hadn't been the welcome I'd expected. Perhaps he didn't expect me to like him. Perhaps my last few months as a minor wouldn't be as terrible as I'd imagined.

I knew what I must look like to him. Dirty, horrid. My last home had been one of the worst by far. I had almost let myself slip and care about someone. Or maybe I had slipped, but it was worth it to save her. The little girl that haunted my dreams.

She reminded me of someone. Someone I couldn't remember. She had been so innocent, so sweet. She had never deserved to be treated the way she was. Her name was Anastasia. She had bouncing blond curls and eyes as blue as the sky. Her smile shown like diamonds, and her skin was like ivory.

She had only been eight when they met. A gentle, kind girl who only did as she was told. Never a cross word left her mouth. At first I believed her to be an angle in disguise, but as she told me the last day I'd seen her, I was her guardian angel.

I knew it wasn't true of course. I was too cynical and cruel to be such a divine creature as she. My dark brown hair and pale skin made me look more menacing than anything.

I looked at myself in the mirror above my dresser. I had cleaned up a bit before we'd made our trip to California, but I decided a shower was in order anyway. The stench and memory of the orphanage still clung to my skin. The putrid smell only served to remind me of where I really belonged. In a hole in the ground with the rest of my family.

I quickly stripped down revealing the thousands of scars that decorated my body. Some were patterns, carved into my skin by a man who thought himself an artist. Others were gruesome lines that stilled shined in the light, revealing the torn flesh that caused such horrid marks to sear my skin.

I remembered every solitary one, and the circumstances under which I had earned them. I was no longer afraid of death as I was as a child. I had my taste of hell, and I'd become numb to it. I would never fear anything ever again. I had made myself that promise after Anastasia had been taken from me. After the day I truly lost my heart.

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Thanks for reading! please review!


	3. Chapter 3

Hey guys. So I didn't get many reviews but I got a lot of favorites and followers out of my first two chapters. I guess that's a good enough reason to continue right? Well enjoy and let me know what you think!

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When I was young I was diagnosed with a rare blood condition that was usually fatal and killed its victims within months. Somehow my body kept fighting it off. The doctors said I must be very strong to have been able to fight it for so long, which really means they were basically surprised I was still alive.

Most of the time I had to deal with the symptoms because my foster parents didn't want to pay for my medication. I had become accustomed to them though. The headaches didn't faze me anymore and I had gotten used to ignoring the strange flashes I always got.

I slowly stepped out of the shower, my hair dripping water down my chest and back. I grabbed one of the lavender towels hanging on a hook next to the shower and dried off. My hair was pretty long, it reached down to my hips, but hardly ever touched them because it was usually in a pony tail or bun. My eyes were a lifeless light blue- grey with green around the pupils. They had dulled since my childhood. My skin had always been pale considering I hardly ever saw the sun anymore.

I grabbed my comb and started untangling the rat's nest on my head. With some work the chocolate brown locks became smooth. When I had finished I scooped it all into a pony tail and, wrapping the towel around me, went to go get dressed.

When I got back to my room there was a dress hanging off my bed. It was a simple black dress with long sleeves and some black stockings and black knee-high boots. I looked at it and sighed. I knew Max was only trying to be nice, but giving me this kind of stuff wasn't really going to make me like him.

I bit my lip and dropped the towel. I slowly pulled the dress on and zipped it up. The dress fit snugly and covered my scars precisely. The stockings were next. I slowly rolled them up my legs and pulled on the boots. I never wore makeup. Never really had a need to. I hardly ever talked to anybody, and never went on dates.

When I was done getting dressed I walked out of my room. I walked down the hall. There were no pictures or mirrors hanging on the walls. I found it strange that max could have 'sons' and yet he didn't have any pictures of them or any other family members.

I was cautious as I continued to the kitchen. It was brighter than I expected. It seemed that the entire house was painted white except for my room. Max was waiting at the table casually, with his left leg resting on the other. He was dressed in a suit coat similar to the one he was wearing before. He had a white button up shirt underneath it and black slacks.

"You look nice." he said smiling at me. "There was a change of plans. It turns out that we will be going out for dinner tonight."

I didn't much like the sound of that. My first night here and he wanted to take me somewhere? I remembered a few years ago when a girl named Melanie went out to dinner after arriving at the foster home with us. They had her all clean and dressed up, but they came back with a wad of cash and no Melanie. Nobody talked about her leaving. The foster parents said she'd run off with a boy she'd met, when really she'd just been sold as some sort of sex slave. Sometimes I wondered why they didn't try to sell me, but then realized it was because of my scars. I wouldn't be worth the danger of having me go missing when they wouldn't get much money off me.

Maybe that's why my clothes covered most of my body. Maybe he was going to try to sell me off and skip town before whoever it was found out.

Max looked at my face questioningly. " Unless you don't want to. I suppose I could just tell the boys to wait for another time?" he asked taking off his jacket.

"No that's okay." I said not really thinking. I suppose if worse came to worse I'd just pull up my sleeve and be done with it.

Max smiled and shrugged his jacket back on. "Good. Let's go get in the car then shall we?" he grabbed his keys and I followed him out to his white 1986 Mustang gt.

It was a nice car. The tan leather seats were very comfortable and the stereo was very expensive.

I felt strange being surrounded by all these luxury items. I also felt strange being the only child in the house for once. This was going to be either the worst or best experience of my life.


End file.
